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Porsche Classic launching branded motor oil for air-cooled boxer engines

It's hard not to love the look of a classic Porsche. Whether it's the upside-down bathtub styling of the 356 or the gradual evolution of the 911, there is a little beauty in all of them. However, the older they get, the more that needs repaired to keep them on the road. Porsche Classic is helping out, though, by introducing its own brand of motor oil for the demands of the company's vintage, air-cooled engines.
Developed at the Porsche Development Centre in Weissach, Germany, Porsche Classic Motoroil comes in two weights - 20W-50 for the 356, 914 and 911 models up to the 2.7-liter G-Model and 10W-60 for 3.0-liters-and-up engines through the 993-chassis 911. The company claims that the air-cooled engines have different heat demands than traditional, water-cooled units, and this oil is made to meet those requirements.
According to Porsche, modern, synthetic oils are sometimes too effective when it comes to old engines. They are fantastic at sopping up debris, but those deposits are often holding archaic seals together. Suddenly removing them can cause leaks. The new oil is specifically designed to work with the old-fashioned materials found in its classics. The company also knows that most owners aren't driving their vintage cars everyday. So this formulation is more alkaline that normal to neutralize acids that they build up and corrode components.

Magnus Walker drives 911 Turbos old and new

It's been forty years now since Porsche released the original 911 Turbo. And as many things that have remained a constant, a lot has changed, too: the engine has gone from air-cooled to liquid, moved up to nearly a midships layout, and drives almost exactly double the original's output to all four wheels instead of just the back set through a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission instead of a five-speed manual. It'll also reach highway speeds about twice as fast as the original. That's progress for you, and who better to compare Porsche Turbos old and new than Magnus Walker. The outlaw of the 911 scene may not look the part, but to those in the know, he's got the last word when it comes to Porsches. After searching for some time, Walker recently got his hands on a cherry of an original 930 Turbo from 1975 – the first year it was made – and had it shipped from Australia to California to add to his collection. eGarage caught up with Walker and brought along a new 991 Turbo for juxtaposition. Fortunately it also brought along a video camera or two to document the experience, so check it out in the latest video above.

Porsche's Mauer recalls the history of the 918 Spyder, hints about next-gen 911

The night before Porsche handed me the keys to its 2015 Macan to drive on both road and track, the company threw together a great dinner for the assembled media in Leipzig. Hosted in Porsche's spaceship-shaped customer delivery center in the eastern German town, I'll admit that I spent the bulk of my night grabbing hors d'oeuvres from passing waiters (they do a nice tuna sashimi), milling around a collection of historic and interesting vehicles on the top floor and gulping down Warsteiner.
In an era of mega car companies, the story of how the 918 came to be was really refreshing.
Before the evening was over, however, Porsche design chief Michael Mauer stopped by my table to exchange pleasantries and thank us all for coming out to drive the Macan. My fellow diners and I passed a pleasant half-hour or more picking the brain of the forthcoming Mauer, and somehow or another, the topic turned to Porsche's newest supercar, the 918 Spyder. In an era of mega car companies (the Volkswagen Group included) and massive development teams, the story of how the 918 came to be is really refreshing.